GDW Analysis:
HANCEVILLE: Poise was well seen by those who watched the Holly Pond Lady Broncos go to battle Wednesday morning with Phil Campbell Lady Bobcats in the NW Regional from Tom Drake Coliseum.
Holly Pond unfortunately lost leading scorer Ava Thomas to an ACL injury from its sub regional win last Friday over Colbert County.
Coach Mary Hartline had four days to adjust her personnel. Adjustments came through when needed and the Lady Broncos rallied to beat the Lady Bobcats 40 to 37.
"We depend on each other," Hartline responded in the postgame news conference. "We overcame adversity today. We have struggled at times, we have had our up and down moments."
Without Thomas, a junior, the Lady Broncos were a young team with 8th graders Millie McBee and Sadie Nail, a part of the starting lineup.
Nail replaced Thomas, McBee has been steady in the backcourt all season with PG Madison Butts, a sophomore and Maggie Nail, a junior shooting guard.
Holly Pond managed 13 points at half and left the floor shooting 1 of 12 from the field in the 2nd.
Phil Campbell had an 8 to 2 surge that put them in front by intermission, 17 to 13.
Shots started to fall for Holly Pond in the 3rd. They went on a 12 to 3 run and led 25 to 20 as Maggie Nail scored from close range.
However. Phil Campell gained the last 7 points of the period and was back on top 27 to 25.
A basket by the Lady Bobcats gave them a 35 to 31 edge with 3:00 remaining.
Holly Pond woke up and would close this contest out, outscoring the Lady Bobcats 9 to 2.
Butts showed her poise in accounting for the final 7 points for her team. 8th in the final 3A state ranking.
A three narrowed it to 37 to 36 with 2:00 left. She made two from the line at 0:41 and they had the lead 38 to 37.
Good defense by the Lady Broncos forced a steal and Butts extended the lead on two more by her from the line for a 40 to 37 lead, 13 seconds showing on the clock.
Phil Campbell misfired on a three in the closing seconds then got the ball on an alternate possession. They never got a shot for time ran out.
Holly Pond has 21 wins in 29 games and playing in the Elite Eight for the 1st time in three years they have been coached by Hartline.
Butts pulled the trigger for 18, hitting 4 of 7 treys and 4 of 4 from the line. She had 5 rebounds, 4 assists to be named the most outstanding player by GDW.
Maggie Nail provided 9, McBee 7, Sadie Nail scored 4 and Alaina Phillips 2.
Phil Campbell had a good year with 22 wins & 11 losses. Leela Baker tallied 20, going 9 of 17 from the floor and had 6 rebounds.
The regional championship for the Lady Broncos will be Friday 3:00 p.m. on 92.1 FM, hollypondbroncos.com
Photo of Holly Pond coach Mary Hartline with her Lady Broncos before the start of the 2nd in the NW Regional Wednesday at Wallace State.
GDW photo by Johnny Thornton.
